The Artist

Leisa believes that art is a powerful means of communication and a potent weapon to bring about change. A successful working artist, she specializes in architectural art. Leisa travels extensively, is always involved in community art projects and loves helping other artists fulfill their artistic passion but learning more about the business side of the art world.

As a teenager, Leisa’s love for travel and adventure prompted her to abandon formal art training, learning her craft instead while traveling across her native New Zealand homeland. She returned to Auckland, set up an art studio, and enjoyed success before turning her attention to the non-profit world. This took her across the globe and fueled her passion for working with people and drawing architecture.

In 2009 Leisa decided to again make her living from her art. Together with her Michigan-born husband, Bruce, she set up her first studio in the historic district of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, where she served on the Alexandria Commission for the Arts and spearheaded a number of public art projects. Her passion for historic homes and buildings was fueled and she never looked back. Soon she became prominent on a national scale and today receives requests from around the country for paintings of homes and historic buildings. She soon moved onto California and currently resides in St. Louis Missouri. She travels extensively and has now painted close almost 2,000 architectural subjects in 47 states. These include an estimated 35 different architectural styles, including Craftsman, Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian, Modern and just about everything in between. She has also created a following of realtors who offer her original house portraits as timeless closing gifts to their favorite clients.

In order to give back to homeowners and individuals who work tirelessly to preserve their homes and enrich their communities, in 2013 she launched her Leisa Collins Historic Preservation Award. The award is an original painting of the restored project and she has now presented it to 10 preservation hero in seven states.

She is currently working on a coffee table book entitled “Art Inspiring Homes Across America” that will feature paintings of her homes in every state and till take readers on an architecture journey across America.

Leisa holds regular shows and events and continues to travel extensively, mainly dividing her time between the east and west coast, Florida, Michigan and New Zealand.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Art is a powerful means of communication and is therefore a potent weapon to bring about change. Interaction with people and the environment is my artistic inspiration and stimulation. It’s about getting across a message, an emotion, or envisioning a better tomorrow. Art for me is something that goes far beyond the studio and gallery walls. It’s about being intensely interested in the beauty and ugliness of everything surrounding one. This then allows me to create art that others can find interesting.